Monthly Archives: March 2014

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Empathy is defined as the feeling that you understand and share another person’s experiences and emotions.

In today’s society, I find that we are all so wrapped up in our own little worlds that we are not always aware of another person’s struggles. It is difficult for some to even consider how a person other than his/her self might feel in a given situation. Take for example the image above, a quote from the movie Tropic Thunder, is meant to be humorous and funny but people forget the negative connotation behind such a term.

Without her even knowing, my sister, who is also a Korean adoptee, taught me so much about being empathetic. Growing up, my siblings and I were all dealing with being different in our own ways. We all felt the ridicule, at times, and the constant struggle to fit in with our peers was practically a full time job. Looking Asian in a white world was like living with a sign on your forehead that you were an outsider; especially to other kids.

When we first moved into our house it felt a little empty for the first few months. We went from a two bedroom (1000 sq. ft) apartment to almost 3x that, so you can imagine we didn’t have nearly enough furniture and decor to fill it.

We have enjoyed the process of decorating and settling in over the years. One room that had always been a challenge was our family room. Because of its long, awkward shape, we didn’t know how to make it feel pulled together.